India has spurred optimism after showing a major leap in the global Ease of Doing Business rankings. However, with the growing pressure of tackling the demands of a developed economy by 2047, India faces one critical question: “How effectively are policies being executed at the ground level?” We have had recent transformative models, mainly the PM Gati Shakti and the National Single Window System, that have highlighted the significance of the “Ease of Policy Execution” and why we must focus on it.
Bridging the gap between policy design and delivery
India boasts of prolific policy makers with the best infrastructure blueprints, investment incentives, and digitisation missions. But we cannot ignore that the conversion from vision to measurable results is not without procedural complexity and limited ground-level capacity. One example is the GST that helped unify national taxation but tested organisations with compliance complexity. Labor reforms remain mired in non-uniform state adoption. These gaps underline that ambitious policy must sync with robust execution frameworks for real impact.
PM Gati Shakti -Execution-driven transformation
Launched in 2021, the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan exemplifies a holistic approach to policy execution. The initiative integrates 58 ministries and all states/ UTs on a single geospatial planning portal. Project clearance processes that once involved as many as 28 permissions can now be resolved with as few as 13, vastly accelerating infrastructure rollout.
Key achievements as of 2025 include:
- Assessment of over 208 major projects, worth more than $180 billion.
- Remarkable reductions in India’s logistics costs to 7.8-8.9% of GDP, down from earlier figures of 13-14%.
- Rectification of 156 critical infrastructure gaps, especially in logistics, last-mile connectivity, and supply chains.
- India’s World Bank Logistics Performance Index improved from 44th to 38th place by 2023.
These advances illustrate the direct economic gains of amalgamating digital infrastructure with coordinated, whole of government execution.
The National Single Window System
The National Single Window System (NSWS) was introduced to eradicate the problems associated with fragmented approvals. It provides a consolidated digital platform that can handle more than 7.1 lakh approval applications. Today, 32 central ministries and 29 state/ UTs have integrated with NSWS. This has greatly helped reduce approval timelines and paperwork by about 40% across many regions.
Impacts:
- Business registration time reduced from 38 days in 2014 to 18 days in 2024.
- More predictable approval processes, improved transparency, and reduced human interference.
India is still eyeing for full universal state integration with NSWS and it is a big work in progress. There are also time to time issues of technical glitches. However, the adoption of the NSWS is increasing, directly enhancing the ease of policy execution for investors and businesses.
Case examples
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is the best case example that illustrates how execution excellence can alter the development narrative. UPI’s coordinated implementation between banks, regulators, and startups transformed India into a leader in digital payments. Similarly, the JAM trinity, Jan Dhan, Aadhar, and Mobile, did not depend solely on a policy framework but on disciplined, execution-oriented delivery that drove financial inclusion to unprecedented levels.
The future
As India aims for a developed economy status by 2047, the focus must move from drafting more policies to executing existing ones effectively. The administration’s future credibility will be defined by its speed, clarity, and accountability in implementation. Going beyond the “Ease of Doing Business” narrative to “Ease of Policy Execution” could be India’s most decisive step toward becoming a truly efficient and responsive economy.
